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63-year-old killed in Tuscaloosa County helicopter crash worked with Alabama Power since he was 19

TCSO Helicopter

FILE PHOTO: Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Deputies used the department's helicopter to locate the crash site of another helicopter Tuesday morning. Two men who were working to maintain a high-voltage power line were killed in the impact. (Stephen Dethrage | AL.com)
(Picasa)

Sgt. Dale Phillips, the commander of the Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit, said the sheriff's office was called around 11 o'clock Tuesday and asked to locate a missing helicopter.

In the department's helicopter, deputies traveled to the last known location of the other aircraft, a remote part of the northeast end of the county off of Blue Creek Road. Deputies reached the crash site on foot shortly after it was spotted from the sky and found that the two men inside the helicopter when it crashed were dead on the scene.

View full sizeDavid Carson, a 63-year-old senior line specialist for Alabama Power, was killed in helicopter crash in Tuscaloosa County Tuesday morning. (Alabama Power)

The pilot was 51-year-old Matthew Wallace, the passenger 63-year-old David Carson. Carson was a senior line specialist for Alabama Power, and Wallace worked as a pilot of Rotor-Works, the Hiram, Ga. company that owned the helicopter.

Phillips said the pair was working on maintaining an Alabama Power high-voltage transmission line at the time of the accident, the cause of which is still unknown. A team of investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board is expected to arrive in Tuscaloosa Wednesday morning to work towards finding out what went wrong.

Joseph Brown, the area manager of Alabama Power's Western Division, said Carson had worked for the company for 44 years and that his death was tragic.

"The Alabama Power family is saddened by the death of David Carson," Brown said. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to David's family during this difficult time."